How I Met You Mother
Information How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, and directed by Pamela Fryman. Set in Manhattan, How I Met Your Mother follows the social and romantic lives of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his friends Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan) and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris).[1] As a framing device, the main character, Ted,[1] using voiceover narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and his daughter the events that led to his meeting their mother. How I Met Your Mother has been a critical success and has received consistently positive reviews throughout its run. It has won six Emmy Awards, including a nomination for "Outstanding Comedy Series" (2009). How I Met Your Mother won the People's Choice Awards 2012 for Best TV Network Comedy, and Neil Patrick Harris won the Best Male Comedy Actor.[2] The eighth season will start on September 24, 2012. Actors Main characters *Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby (2005–) *Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen (2005–) *Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky (2005–) *Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson (2005–) *Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin (2005–) *Bob Saget (voice only) as Future Ted Mosby (uncredited) (2005–) Recurring characters *Lyndsy Fonseca as Future Ted Mosby's daughter (2005–) *David Henrie as Future Ted Mosby's son (2005–) *Marshall Manesh as Ranjit (2005–) *Joe Nieves as Carl the Bartender (2005–11) *Charlene Amoia as Wendy the Waitress (2005–11) *Bill Fagerbakke as Marvin Eriksen Sr. (2005–) *Danica McKellar as Trudy (2005–07) *Ashley Williams as Victoria (2006, 2011–) *David Burtka as Scooter (2006–10) *Joe Manganiello as Brad (2006–09) *Bryan Callen as Bilson (2006–09) *Taran Killam as Blauman (2006) *Alexis Denisof as Sandy Rivers (2006, 2011–) *Wayne Brady as James Stinson (2006–) *Bryan Cranston as Hammond Druthers (2006–07) *Cristine Rose as Ted's mother, Virginia Mosby (2006–) *Enrique Iglesias as Gael (2007) *Sarah Chalke as Stella Zinman (2008–09) *Britney Spears as Abby (2008) *Bob Odenkirk as Arthur Hobbs (2008, 2010–11) *Chris Romano as Punchy (2008–11) *Will Forte as Randy Wharmpess (2008, 2010) *Frances Conroy as Loretta Stinson (2009–) *Benjamin Koldyke as Don Frank (2009–10) *Laura Prepon as Karen (2009–10) *Chris Elliott as Mickey Aldrin (2009, 2011–) *Rachel Bilson as Cindy (2010, 2011) *Ben Vereen as Sam Gibbs (2010) *Jennifer Morrison as Zoey Pierson (2010–11) *Laura Bell Bundy as Becky (2010) *Kyle MacLachlan as George "The Captain" van Smoot (2010–11) *Nazanin Boniadi as Nora (2011) *Katy Perry as "Honey" (2011) *John Lithgow as Jerome "Jerry" Whittaker (2011) *Kal Penn as Kevin (2011–12) *Martin Short as Garrison Cootes (2011–) *Becki Newton as Quinn Garvey (2012–) Season One Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 1)In the year 2030, Ted Mosby (voiced by Bob Saget) sits his daughter and son down to tell them the story of how he met their mother. The series begins in 2005 with Ted (Josh Radnor) as a single, 27-year-old architect living with his two best friends from his college years; Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), a law student, and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), a kindergarten teacher and aspiring artist. Lily and Marshall have been dating for almost nine years when Marshall finally proposes. Their engagement causes Ted to think about marriage and finding his soul mate, much to the disgust of his self-appointed best friend Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), whom he met in the restroom at a bar four years earlier. Barney is a serial womanizer who concocts elaborate con games, usually involving costumes and fake identities, designed to bed women, whom he discards immediately afterward. Ted begins his search for his perfect soul mate and meets an ambitious young reporter from Canada, Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), with whom he quickly falls in love. Robin, however, doesn't want to rush into a relationship and the two decide to be friends. Future Ted reveals that Robin is not the mother after referring to her as "Aunt Robin". Ted begins dating a baker, Victoria (Ashley Williams), whom he meets at a friend's wedding, causing Robin to become jealous and realize she does have feelings for Ted. Victoria, having been offered a fellowship in pastry-making, moves to Germany; and she and Ted try a long-distance relationship. Once Ted learns Robin has feelings for him, he tells her he broke up with Victoria, even though he hasn't. They almost have sex when Victoria calls and Robin answers, mistaking Ted's phone for her own. Ted and Victoria then break up and an angry Robin distances herself from Ted, but they eventually make up and decide to date. Meanwhile, Lily begins to wonder if she's missed any opportunities because of her relationship with Marshall, and decides to pursue an art fellowship in San Francisco, breaking up with Marshall in the process. The season ends with Ted coming back to the apartment, the morning after spending the night with Robin for the first time, to find Marshall sitting in the rain with Lily's engagement ring, devastated by their sudden break up. Season Two Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 2)Ted and Robin are now a couple; meanwhile, a heartbroken Marshall tries to continue his life without Lily. After enduring numerous emotional breakdowns, Marshall's friends step in, and Barney, using sly catch phrases and pick up lines, tries to get Marshall back in the dating game. Later, Lily, after finally realizing she is not meant to be an artist, returns to New York. She is reunited with Marshall, their engagement is reinstated. When Robin refuses to go to the mall or explain why, Marshall suspects she is either married, and Barney suspects she has performed in adult films. They both bet on it, issuing Lily as "Slap Bet Commissioner." Lily oversees the search for the truth, as they discover that Robin was a teenage pop star named "Robin Sparkles", and Marshall eventually earns the right to slap Barney 5 times whenever he wants to. It is revealed Barney has a gay half-brother named James (Wayne Brady) and that he believes that Bob Barker is his father, unaware that his mother lied to him, and takes a trip to California to be a contestant on The Price is Right to meet his "father." While on the show, Barney wins all of the prizes and gives them to Lily and Marshall as a 'happy early wedding' present. In the season finale, Ted reveals to Barney that he and Robin have been broken up for some time due to their conflicting views on marriage and kids. They didn't tell anyone in order to avoid taking attention away from Lily and Marshall's wedding. The season ends with Barney excited at the prospect of Ted and himself being single guys on the town again, and ends the season with Barney saying, "This is going to be legen- wait for it..." Season Three Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 3)Barney begins the season with the word, "-dary!" Robin returns from a trip to Argentina with her new boyfriend, Gael (Enrique Iglesias), and Ted must adjust to life as just her friend, while watching Robin and Gael fawning over each other. Marshall and Lily decide to move out on their own, falling in love with a place they can't afford. Robin learns of Lily's bad credit rating due to her compulsive shopping for designer brands, and forces Lily to tell Marshall. Despite this, they are able to finally secure their dream apartment, only to discover it's in a bad location and more poorly constructed than they thought (the floor is tilted). Barney is slapped for the third time on Thanksgiving, which Marshall dubs "Slapsgiving." Ted tells his children he met their mother through a story concerning her yellow umbrella. He finds the umbrella at a club and takes it home after attending a St. Patrick's Day party where his future wife was, although they did not meet. Ted attempts to woo Stella (Sarah Chalke), a dermatologist he sees to remove an embarrassing butterfly tattoo. This culminates in a memorable "two-minute date," which incorporates small talk, dinner, a movie, coffee, two cab rides, and a goodnight kiss, all within two minutes. Robin sleeps with Barney after he comforts her following a break-up with a past Canadian love; Ted is infuriated, and decides to stop being friends with Barney. Meanwhile, an unknown woman begins to sabotage Barney's attempts to hook up. His saboteur is revealed to be Abby (Britney Spears), Stella's receptionist, with a vendetta against him for not calling her after they had sex. In the season finale, Ted gets into a car accident and ends up in hospital, Subsequently Barney gets hit by a bus on the way to visit him and ends up receiving treatment in the same hospital. Ted realizes Barney really cares about him and they renew their friendship. It is revealed Barney has true feelings for Robin, while Ted proposes to Stella in an arcade. Season Four Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 4)Stella says yes to Ted's proposal. Robin takes a new job in Japan, but quickly resigns and returns to New York to attend Ted's wedding, after realizing how much she misses her friends. Stella leaves Ted at the altar to get back together with Tony (Jason Jones), the father of her daughter. Barney struggles with his feelings for Robin as his company shifts him to the management team of a new acquisition, Goliath National Bank (GNB). Marshall and Lily move to their new apartment and debate over whether or not they're ready to have children. Robin becomes roommates with Ted and gets a job as an anchor for a 4 AM news show after Barney sends out her video resume. Ted and Robin decide to sleep together constantly so they won't fight over each other's bad co-living habits. Barney attempts to make them stop fighting to prevent this, revealing to Ted his love for Robin. Ted finds out Lily has sabotaged all of his relationships with anyone she doesn't approve of and indirectly may have inspired his breakup with Robin. Robin and Ted end up talking about it, causing their friendship to begin moving toward a positive note. After Barney finally sleeps with his 200th woman (and rubs it in the face of the childhood bully who taunted him into pursuing it), he begins to question the purpose of the remainder of his life, leaving him more certain of his feelings for Robin. Ted, while carrying the yellow umbrella, bumps into Stella and Tony. Tony later decides to visit him, sympathizing with Ted over his loss of Stella. Tony offers him a job as a professor of architecture, which Ted initially turns down. In the season finale Robin finds out that Barney loves her, and initially refuses to commit to anything but a sex-only relationship; they seemingly end up together anyway. Ted decides that being an architect is leading nowhere, and finally decides instead to become a college professor. The finale ends with Ted preparing to teach his first class and Future Ted revealing to his kids that one of the women in the class is their mother. Season Five Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 5)Ted begins his job as an architectural professor, standing in the middle of a classroom – although the mother was present, it turns out to be an economics class as he's in the wrong lecture hall. Barney and Robin have had a sexual relationship throughout the summer and Lily locks them in a room, forcing them to come to terms with their relationship. After a rough patch they decide to break up. Robin describes it instead as "two friends getting back together." Barney immediately goes back to his old ways, using the playbook to score with women. Throughout the season Barney and Robin show feelings of regret over their break-up. Ted dates a graduate student named Cindy (Rachel Bilson) and it is revealed her roommate is his future wife. Robin meets Don, her new co-anchor on her 4 AM TV show. Though she initially dislikes him, the two start dating and eventually she moves in with him. At the end of the season they break up when Don takes a job in Chicago — a job which Robin had previously turned down to stay in New York with Don. Marshall uses his fourth slap on Barney, once again at Thanksgiving. Ted buys a house, which needs to be fixed up badly, but is later revealed to be the future home for Ted and his kids. Lily and Marshall are still unsure about having kids. After watching four doppelgangers of their group (Lesbian Robin, Moustache Marshall, Stripper Lily and Mexican Wrestler Ted) they decide to leave the big decision to the universe's "infinite wisdom" and start trying when they have seen Barney's Doppelganger. In the season finale, Barney disguises himself to have sex with a girl from every country in the world, and Lily and Marshall mistake him for the final doppelganger. When Marshall finds out, he decides not to tell Lily, fearing she will want to wait even longer to have children. Lily eventually finds out and decides to wait. In the season finale, Lily thinks she sees Barney's doppelganger as a hot dog vendor, which causes the group to realize she is seeing what she wants to see, and play along. Eventually Barney agrees having babies is not a stupid idea and Lily and Marshall should go forth. The season ends with Lily asking Marshall to "put a baby in my belly". Season Six Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 6)In the season opening, Ted sees Cindy again with a girl who he thinks to be her roommate, but she turns out to be Cindy's girlfriend whom she later marries. After prodding by Barney, Ted is eventually hired by GNB once more as the architect of the bank's new headquarters (which was originally scrapped in Season 4). However, he encounters opposition when he meets Zoey Pierson (Jennifer Morrison), a woman who is protesting against GNB for selecting a decrepit hotel, the Arcadian, to be torn down for the headquarters. Over the season, Ted's encounters with Zoey eventually blossom into a relationship after she divorces her rich husband, but they break up as he puts his career over love, leading to the Arcadian's demolition. Ted also resolves not to get back with Zoey. Having agreed to conceive a baby at the end of the previous season, Lily and Marshall keep having sex, hoping she will get pregnant. Around Christmas, they have a false alarm and later seek fertility testing and find the fifth doppelganger (Barney's doppelganger) as their fertility doctor, Dr. Stangel. However, tragedy strikes when Marshall's father passes away, leaving him devastated and the gang comforting him. Marshall tries to get over his father's death and live again. Despite a pledge to Lily to work harder for their future, Marshall resigns from GNB and follows his dream of being an environmental lawyer. Zoey also hires him as her lawyer in what became a futile battle to save the Arcadian. At the end of the season, Lily reveals that she is pregnant. Barney finally admits to the gang that Bob Barker is not his real father, especially when his mother decides to sell the house he grew up in and his brother, James, meets his own father. Loretta offers the identity of Barney's father on a sheet of paper, but Barney tears this up after realizing her efforts as a single mother. At the funeral of Marshall's father, Barney tells Loretta that he wants to see his father at last. The man, Jerome Whittaker, is eventually revealed to be someone whom Barney thought was his guardian. Barney is disappointed because Jerome was not the free-wheeling man he knew as a child. Although he tries to bring back Jerry's old ways, Barney admits that he wants to settle down someday. He is also introduced to Nora, a co-worker of Robin, for whom he develops feelings. After an initial falling out, the season finale indicates a possible future revival of their relationship, where Barney asks her for coffee and Nora tells Barney that "it's never too late" to wear a sun-dress. Robin continues to work at her talk show, Come On, Get Up, New York!, but the presence of a new hyperactive co-host forces her to leave. She is accepted as a researcher in another network, World Wide News. The gang also discovers more of her past as the Canadian pop star Robin Sparkles. Robin also encounters a man (Michael Trucco) she has had a secret crush on since first seeing him when she and Ted were dating, and Future Ted hints that they will see more of him later. A short scene during both the first and last episode of the season feature a wedding set sometime in the future, which is where Ted will meet his future wife. In the last episode it is revealed to be Barney's wedding. Season Seven Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 7)Season seven opens with another flash forward, in which Ted is helping Barney get ready for his wedding to a still unknown bride. Back in the present, Marshall gets a job in environmental law, while Lily progresses with her pregnancy. Barney proves to Nora that he can be a good boyfriend to her, while Robin is revealed to still have feelings for Barney. Robin takes court-mandated therapy, until her therapist Kevin (Kal Penn) becomes attracted to her, breaking his ethical code. They start to date. While reminiscing about Hurricane Irene, it is revealed that Lily and Marshall had conceived their baby in Barney's apartment, and Barney and Robin end up sleeping together. Barney and Robin both realize what they've done and decide to break up with their partners. However, Robin decides to stay with Kevin, which devastates Barney, who did break up with Nora. Marshall and Lily decide they want to move to Long Island, after Lily's paternal grandparents offer them their house there. They move back to New York City after realizing suburban life is not for them. Robin gets a pregnancy scare at Thanksgiving and tells Barney the child is his, since she and Kevin hadn't slept with each other at that point. However, Robin's doctor informs her she cannot have children, which devastates her. Kevin proposes to Robin; while she loves him and is ready for the commitment, she reveals she can't have children and that she doesn't want kids at all, so they break up. Soon after, Robin tells Ted everything that happened, only for him to profess his love for her (which is revealed to be the final time he declares his love for someone other than his future wife). Robin soon admits that she does not love Ted, and Marshall asks her to move out of Ted's apartment so Ted can finally move on with his love life. Ted gives his apartment to Lily and Marshall because he feels he and Robin haunt that place. Barney starts dating Quinn, who happens to strip under the name "Karma". When the gang finds out through Ted, who broke a "broath" from Barney to not tell anyone about her profession, they begin to meddle in their relationship. This is revealed to be a set-up, with Quinn acting like a crazy girlfriend and Barney being spineless toward her. Quinn ends up moving in with Barney, and Ted buys Quinn's place. Lily, worried that Marshall is too stressed with the birth close at hand, arranges for Barney to "kidnap" Marshall to a casino. Marshall gets very drunk. Meanwhile, Ted decides to patch up his differences with Robin. Lily goes into labor and frantically calls Barney and Marshall. Marshall is still in the casino, drunk and has turned off his phone. When Barney learns Lily is in labor, he promises to help Marshall get to the hospital provided that Barney can choose the baby's middle name. After many attempts to escape the casino, Marshall arrives in time for Lily's delivery. Because of his promise to Barney, Marshall and Lily name their son Marvin "Wait For It" Eriksen. In the season finale, Marshall and Lily begin their new family with their baby. Barney proposes to Quinn through an airport fiasco after she tells him that she quit her job, and she accepts. Ted, after his conversation with Robin about his love life, calls Victoria to see if he still has a chance with her, even though she is getting married. She leaves her fiancé for Ted and wants to go off into the sunset with him. After some thinking, Ted eventually decides to go with her. The season ends with a flash forward to Barney's wedding, where Robin is revealed as the bride. Season Eight On September 24, 2012, the show will return for its eighth season.[29]